Five Options For Woodturning Lathe Faceplates

I use a lot of faceplates in many different configurations. I prefer to start with an inexpensive block of poplar, thread it, and then adapt it to my project. When finished, I may face off the base block and put it away until another is needed. I have a box dedicated to my cache of faceplates.

Steel faceplates are too expensive to have a lot of. To add insult to injury, attaching wood requires screws which can ruin my turning tools if hit.

Beyond all steel faceplates, there are two options: a steel nut embedded in wood; direct threading in wood.

For a larger 1 1/4" x 8 tpi spindle, 8 tpi is not an industry standard. The standard for 1 1/4 threads is 7 threads per ince. Therefore, an 8 tpi nut is a special specification, very expensive and hard to find.

Instead, taps are available for 1", 1 1/4", and M33 spindles. Direct threaded into a block of inexpensive poplar is quicker than embedding a nut in wood. Poplar performs well for all my projects.

I'll show you mine - Please show me yours.

Enjoy!

#faceplate #woodFaceplate #woodTap #woodworking #woodturning #woodturningprojects #lathe #AlanStratton #video #DIY

[gordroberts]

I learned to make these on your channel over five years ago. I use them for a variety of applications, mostly for jam chucks and specialty devices like my lathe mounted sanding disc and longworth chuck for example. My goto for most non-spindle turning is one of my four jaw chucks. Threaded wood face plates are indispensable in my shop. Thanks always for sharing, I have, and continue to, learn a great deal from you.

[bertdelisle]

Great video Alan, I use them a lot too. I made a few, with metal nuts, in them back in my early days, but found the threaded wood ones much easier and cheaper. And because they are so versatile I have a box of blocks of wood chunks that are all threaded, one afternoons effort, to have them readily available to modify for project of the day. I have several threaded 3/4-10tpi for use on the live centre, some pointed, some with tenon or dowel, also I have a couple of 4" diameter disks with foam or rubber face for supporting off-centre weed pots and ducks, it works excellent providing just a little support, the disk spins with the offset and the workpiece is less likely to launch when I get a catch, yes I do still get the occasional catch, Lol.

[monophoto]

I also favor threaded wood faceplates - large-diameter nuts are expensive, so compared with the embedded nut approach, the initial cost of the tap is significant, but is more than recovered by the time you have made two or three mounts. Incidentally, Ace Hardware sells 1"x8tpi taps although they may not have one in stock but can get one from their warehouse in a couple of days.

I prefer to use ash because the threads are very clean and strong - especially because I always orient the wood to make the hole in face grain. In theory, you could drill and tap a 'blind hole' but that requires a 'bottoming tap'; so my practice aligns with yours - drill and tap all the way through, and if you need a blind hole, you can always glue on another piece of wood later. When I do that, I tend to use a mortise/tenon configuration for the glue joint so that if I am gluing on a bit of end-grain wood, I can avoid the cross-grain glue joint problem.

Final point - after rounding the body of the face plate/glue block, I drill an axial hole in the side that matches the diameter of one of the tommy bars from my chuck - that way, if the threaded block gets stuck on the lathe headstock, I have a way of 'encouraging' it to come off.

[haroldhaines]

These faceplates are very helpful for beginners. They are not expensive, and offer more options that expansicve chucks.

[WoodFrontier]

Great video Alan. I am a big fan of wooden faceplates. I like the tenon you add when working on the side that later goes against the headstock. I will have to add that to any I make in the future.
Cheers,
-Todd

[mvecellio]

Great video. I like to embed a 1 inch 8tpi nut into maple. I use the kind that has a nylon insert and turn the nylon away. That gives a nut with a small shoulder to butt against the spindle. I use two layers of maple so I can cut a hexagon shape in one and the nut will seat against the second layer. I like all your videos. Thanks.

[NBCRGraphicDesign]

Can you share which issue of the AAW magazine featured the wooden multi axis chuck? Thanks! Nice video with lots of great tips.

[tangobravowhiskey]

Thanks Alan. Do you have a video on the spike plate?

[kenvasko]

Another good one. Thanks. Wear a full face shield!

[LewisKauffman]

Thank you for pointing out that wood moves and working to .0001" is moot point. Great video. Sometime, if you are lucky, you can find the correct size taps at a surplus store or they can be made from the proper size bolt.

[billgiles]

Taps of the size I would want are very expensive in the UK, I plan to use a bolt of suitable size and cut grooves lengthwise with a file. Interesting experiment.

[rogerdirkx.]

Alan, what did you use for spikes on your home made spike plate face plate? Thank you.

[klemlyn]

Thanks, I tried this once with MDF and was unhappy so I parked the idea. I need to get back into it with real wood. One question please. Is there any reason not to drill the larger hole and cut the bevel BEFORE tapping the main hole, and then applying the CA glue to the whole lot? (Probably need to scrape any surplus glue off the setting when remounting for retapping).

[rexb]

Great video. Now I can try doing this as there is never enough faceplates! I also have a question on the smock you wear, have you done a comparison on the various ones for sale or homemade? Thank you for helping educate me on woodturning, and of course many others able to see on You Tube.

[grumpywiseguy]

Do you have a video on how to glue projects to these faceplates? I like this idea a lot. My only problem is that I am a beginner to woodturning and my lack expertise with the tools you use will probably result in a faceplate that is not truly flat or perpendicular to the lathe spindle axis. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[glencrandall]

I have them all but I have no favorite. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe. Is the finger healing OK?

[markinmon]

Can you post the site for the steal nuts?

[tomcoker]

Alan, I have Beall taps (1” x 8 and 1-1/4 x 8) that I’ve had for decades and they work great. However I wanted to try the nut & bolt route for a jig, but couldn’t find a 1-1/4 x 8 set. Do you know of a source? 1 x 8 are easy, not so the 1-1/4 x 8 😟. So if you have a source I’d appreciate it if you’d pass it along. Thanks for the tips. Cheers, Tom

[kenharper]

FORD - fix or repair daily -or- found on road dead. I am a Chevy man myself.